Christie Golden: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

“What?” Okto-Bar was incredulous.

“It—sir, it sounds like Major Valerian!” the soldier said.

Okto-Bar couldn’t believe his ears. “Patch him through.”

The seconds seemed to last forever, and then:

“Hello?”

It was, indeed, Valerian’s voice. Okto-Bar let out a short bark of astonishment. “Major?”

“Yes, sir!” The voice was full of relief. “Major Valerian and Sergeant Laureline here! We’re alive and on the inside, on the other side of the wall. Call off the assault immediately!”

“Major,” Okto-Bar said, hating every word, “I’d like to believe it’s you, but I can’t read your DNA code, and you know the procedure. I need proof that this is not a hoax, and that—”

“This is no time for dumbass procedures!”

Neza and Okto-Bar exchanged glances. The voice certainly sounded like Sergeant Laureline. “We’re in here , dammit! With a whole species you already wiped out once! The Pearls from planet Mül. So tell your men to back off before you commit a second genocide!”

Okto-Bar was reeling. He was a calm, thoughtful man, and procedure had always served him well his entire career. Now, he was unsure as to what to do.

“That’s definitely her temper,” Neza observed.

Okto-Bar had to agree. “But…” he stammered, slightly dazed at the potential upending of so much he had believed to be true, “planet Mül was uninhabited!”

“You know that’s not true!” Valerian shouted. “Commander Filitt was there . He gave the orders. And he organized this whole operation to eliminate the survivors, the living proof of his mistake. Stop the procedure!”

Neza stepped close to his commanding officer. Softly, so that he would not be overheard, he murmured, “Maybe that would explain why the commander was interrogating that creature.”

It all came together in dreadful, heartbreaking sense that even now Okto-Bar wished he could deny.

He stopped the countdown at three minutes, fourteen seconds.

“Countdown paused.”

Laureline and Valerian both blew out sighs of relief at the general’s words. “Is the commander with you?” he continued.

Laureline and Valerian shared a glance, then, as one, got up, hauled the groggy commander to his feet, and threw him into a seat in the capsule. His head lolled and he resumed snoring.

With perhaps a bit more enjoyment than he ought to have felt, Valerian slapped Filitt’s slack face.

“Come on!” Valerian said, loudly and cheerfully. “Wakey wakey! There’s a call for you.”

“Commander?” came Okto-Bar’s voice. “Do you read me?”

Still no response.

Laureline slapped the commander harder than Valerian had. Now he did lurch awake, muttering, “Ouch!”

“Come on, my friend,” Valerian said. “It’s time to confess.”

Filitt blinked dazedly. He frowned as he looked around, clearly puzzled that he didn’t see the general. Hesitantly, he said in a slightly slurred voice, “Hel… lo?”

“Commander Filitt, this is General Okto-Bar. Do you read me? We can’t get a DNA code on you, but we do have a voice wave match.”

The commander sat up, wincing. His eyes became focused and his voice was clear as he responded. “I read you. What’s going on?”

“We are ready to activate the explosive device in accordance with the orders you gave,” came Okto-Bar’s voice. “Do you confirm these orders, or do you have anything to tell me that will enable me to suspend the assault?”

The commander didn’t answer at once. Valerian and Laureline tensed. He looked at them in turn, then, whatever sedative the Pearls had used on him now fully out of his system, straightened in his seat.

“I’m a soldier,” he said, his voice quiet, calm, and intense. “A soldier will always choose death over humiliation. Annihilate them all!”

The words, brutally clear, came over the radio. Kris and his men were stunned, but the K-TRONs, having received their orders, opened fire immediately. Bullets tore through the air, cutting down not just the delicate, beautiful creatures that were the supposed enemy, but the rest of Kris’s all-too-human troops.

“Take cover!” Kris yelled to his soldiers, obeying his own order. But just as he leaped for one of the trenches, a bullet ripped through his shoulder and he landed hard and awkwardly.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” came Major Valerian’s voice.

“I gave no orders!” shouted Okto-Bar. “Kris, cease fire immediately!”

Kris pressed a hand to his wounded shoulder. Over the din of his men returning fire at the black metal robots, he shouted, “It’s not us, it’s the K-TRONs! They’re attacking us!”

Okto-Bar was utterly stunned. The K-TRONs were under orders from Filitt and no one else, which meant—

Large black metal forms with red lights atop their heads surged into the control room, blazing away in all directions. “Retreat!” Okto-Bar shouted. Some of his people dropped to the floor, diving for cover. Some of them fell, and did not get up. Okto-Bar placed one of the consoles between him and the door, firing over it as best he could at the implacable machines.

Under a hail of gunfire, one of the K-TRONs moved to the console and hit the button.

The countdown, stopped at 3:14, resumed.

Valerian couldn’t believe it. They had come so close—

“I’ll go give Tsûuri some backup,” he told Laureline. He jerked his head in the direction of Filitt, who wore a look of smug triumph. “Keep an eye on him!”

“Oh, he’s not going anywhere,” Laureline promised. As Valerian grabbed his weapons on the way out, he looked back in time to see Laureline landing a solid punch on the commander’s smirking face.

He emerged into the chaos of a battle going full force between the K-TRONs, the Pearls, and the human troops. There were several large blue cocoons lying about, which bore testament to the fact that the Pearls were putting up a good fight.

“Alex?” said Valerian, shouting to be heard over the sound of bullets, “if you can hear me, load me up with all you’ve got!”

A green light flashed on Valerian’s gun.

“Acknowledged, Major,” came Alex’s welcome voice. “Here goes… fifty infras, twenty anti-flux, twelve ultra-heatseekers.”

“Thanks.”

“You have ten seconds left.”

Ten seconds. He’d make every last one count.

Valerian leapt out from cover and opened fire. Missiles of all varieties exploded from his weapons, and the K-TRONs started to drop. Sheer force blew them apart, and then the parts were pulverized. One robot was blown back, shrapnel all that remained of it. Valerian brought his guns along in a line, firing constantly, gunning the robotic enemy down with terrible precision.

Out of the corner of his eye, Valerian saw the wall start to ripple. The Pearls inside were beginning to seal it up. Valerian was running out of ammo; he was down to the last five… two… one of the eighty-two that Alex had loaded him up with.

But the K-TRONs were down, reduced to inert hunks of smoking, melted or bullet-ridden metal.

All but their captain.

Make it count .

Valerian took aim at the largest part of the robot—its gleaming, massive chest—and fired his last frag cap. Out of ammo, and almost out of time, Valerian raced through the wall a fraction of a second before it sealed shut.

The control room clock showed 00:01.

The mine-covered wall in the dead zone turned first silver, then phosphorescent.